Champion jockey Hugh Bowman’s first words to Waller after the race were succinct: “She is pretty good, she is a Group 1 horse!’’

Unforgotten, winner of the ATC Australian Oaks last season, showed she is going to a major player in any race she contests this spring carnival when she overcame an interrupted passage in the straight to score a brilliant win.

“She is very special. She showed that in the autumn and the Oaks was very special in itself,’’ Waller said.

“But to have that acceleration over a mile was very pleasing to see.’’

Waller prepared his fifth Chelmsford winner in seven years when Unforgotten ($3.80 favourite) split the pack and sprinted away to win by one-and-a-quarter lengths to a very gallant Ace High ($21) with Libran ($41) a short half head away third.

Unforgotten is part-owned by Peter Tighe, who also shares in the ownership of Winx, and Waller said he will try to keep the two mares apart as much as possible this spring.

Peter Snowden said it was a particularly satisfying result with Pure Elation who was on the comeback trail after suffering a bleeding attack following her win in the Percy Sykes Stakes at Randwick last April.

“You are always worried about it a little but she is scoping clean all the time and her lungs are good,’’ he said.

Snowden admitted he must now decide whether Pure Elation has the stamina to be trained for the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on September 29.

“She might be too brilliant to get out to a mile,’’ Snowden said.

“But we will see how she pulls up and make a call.’’

Co-trainer Paul Snowden said Pure Elation can take significant improvement from her first-up win.

“We know where we’ve got here, there’s a little bit left in the tank with a long spring ahead,’’ Snowden said.

“It’s just good to see her get back in this way, for her to hit the line like she did.”

LORD MAYOR LEADS WALLER TRIFECTA

CHRIS Waller’s big team of stayers are just warming up for the spring carnival but he still claimed the trifecta in a 2000m event at Randwick.

The Lord Mayor was very tough in holding out stablemates Quick Defence and Brimham Rocks with James McDonald’s touch getting him over the line by a neck.

Quick Defence, a Tasmania horse, may head back home for the state’s cup race while The Lord Mayor and Brimham Rocks will head towards Group races in Sydney and Melbourne during the spring.

Brimham Rocks looked like it was about to go past The Lord Mayor and win by half a length but his long run from the tail of the field took its toll late.

“I thought Brimham Rocks had the winner at the 100m mark but he might have just come to the end of his run but you’ll see him improve,” Waller said.

“They’re good horses and they’ll get better as the preparation and The Metropolitan and The Bart Cummings which is the week later will be (targets) and even the St Leger comes into it.”

“The Lord Mayor had no luck in the Derby in the autumn when he clipped heels and he’s come back well.”

McDonald said The Lord Mayor did what all good stayers do and toughed it out after looking beaten in the closing stages.

“That was a tough win and he’s a nice stayer,” McDonald said.

“He was pretty well prepared for that 2000m. He had a 1400m run then went back to the trials and a lot of thought goes into it.”

All Too Soon was fancied in the market but was caught wide and jockey Tye Angland said punters should keep following her after she ran eighth.

“I couldn’t get in but it was a very, very tough run,” Angland said.

— with Matt Jones

TAB BIG BETS

RANDWICK

RACE 1

More Sundays was a costly start to the day for punters after it finished unplaced in the ATC Heritage Society Handicap (1300m). Opening the day at $1.85 and getting to $2 at the jump, More Sundays was a dominant favourite and held over 80 percent of the market and was heavily leveraged through multis too. After racing outside the leader, More Sundays couldn’t finish off and it was left to Reginae ($16-$9) to land the cash for Corey Brown. Condemned ($26) and Ranier ($7.50) filled the minors.

More Sundays went around as one of the best backed runners cross the country today.

BETS: More Sundays $8000 @ $2, $7600 @ $1.80

RACE 2

Goodfella landed some nice bets at the eachway quote when doing it tough to win the National Jockeys Trust Handicap (1600m). Forced to sit outside the heavily backed Streets Of Avalon, Goodfella put paid to the fav at the top of the straight before holding off the well supported Abdon ($7). Old North, which raced a little worse than midfield, followed the rails home to fill third at $34. Streets Of Avalon, $6 on Wednesday, was hammered ever since the market opened and jumped a $2.70 chance. It was responsible for just over half of the market.

BETS: Streets Of Avalon $4000 @ $3, $5000 @ $2.70

RACE 3

Gordon’s Leap ($17) was relatively unwanted in the TAB Highway (1400 metres). Ridden cold by Jay Ford, Gordon’s Leap burst through the pack over the final 200 metres to nab Cisco Bay ($9) close to the line. Athonis ($7) grabbed the minor end of the prize. Most of the attention in this race centred around Safe Landing ($5) and Tristan De Angel ($6) with very little separating the pair in terms of money held. Combined they were responsible for 57 percent of the total investment.

RACE 4

There was some backing to suggest The Lord Mayor would run a big race in the Schweppes Handicap (2000m). The Chris Waller-trained runner was $9 in the morning but constant specking saw it start at $7, which was one of the better moves in the race outside of the big support for the favourite. Quick Defence ($14) was only narrowly beaten into second spot while Brimham Rocks ($5) flashed home from the tail to be close up in third. The disappointment in the race from a punting perspective was All Too Soon which went $2.90-$4.40 thanks to being TAB’s Beat The Bookie horse. The mare held roughly a third of the total investment.

BETS: The Lord Mayor $1000 @ $9; All Too Soon $2000 @ $4

RACE 5

Champion sprinter Redzel was a brutal result for TAB when it made it back-to-back Concorde Stakes (1000m). The Team Snowden runner was $1.70 in the morning but thanks to being TAB’s ‘Beat The Bookie’ horse, it went all the way out to $2.35 and lost favouritism to Invincible Star ($2.40-$2.30). Forced to sit outside Invincible Star, jockey Kerrin McEvoy sat quietly until midway down the straight before putting paid to the leader and then holding off Kaepernick ($21) which had the sit off the frontrunners. Invincible Star was close up in third.

Redzel was 3.5 times as popular as Invincible Star and held 66 percent of the market.

Comin Through had some specking but still wasn’t as fancied as some of the other runners in the Tramway Stakes (1400m). The Chris Waller trained and Michael Walker ridden runner was the fourth best supported horse behind Le Romain ($2.80), Lanciato ($5.50-$7) and Tom Melbourne ($6-$5). Punters who shopped earlier in the week secured as much as $11 about its chances. Le Romain was more than twice as popular as Lanciato and was responsible for 45 percent of all bets on the race.

Punters were all over Unforgotten in the Bisley Workwear Chelmsford Stakes (1600m). Another feature winner for Chris Waller, Unforgotten travelled nicely on the fence before Hugh Bowman came to the centre of the track and squeezed through a gap. Punters that backed her in to as low as $3.10 didn’t have any cause for concern, with Bowman finding a clear passage halfway down the running and the mare doing the rest. Ace High ($23) and Libran ($51) filled the minors. Of the others, the move for Cabeza De Vaca, which began on Wednesday when it was $12, continued today to see it start second pick at $6.50. Unforgotten was a horror result for TAB as she was responsible for 60 percent of the total investment.

BETS: Unforgotten $6000 $3.60, $5678 @ $3.20

RACE 8

Pure Elation landed several big bets after her brilliant win in the Darley Furious Stakes (1200m). Jockey Michael Walker continued his fabulous day out at Randwick, positioning the filly behind the leader and then finding a space along the inside with the pair bursting through to win impressively. Fiesta ($6) filled the runner-up slot while Pretty In Pink ($12-$8) was third. Miss Fabulass, the favourite for most of the week, was $3.20 on Wednesday but got out to $5 at the jump to start an equal top pick with Oohood.

Punters ended the day on a high at Randwick when Best Of Days was successful in the Heineken 3 Handicap (1400m). The Godolphin runner was hammered throughout the day although it did get out late in the betting to start $3.20. The reason for the drift was the move for Another Dollar ($6-$4.20). Jockey James McDonald found clear space in the home straight after being strung up in traffic, with Best Of Days doing enough to get over the top of Sir Plush ($6) while Sambro ($7) was third in front of the unlucky Another Dollar. Money for Best Of Days accounted for 60 percent of the market with the entire being four times as popular as Another Dollar.